Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1887-05-20
AN OLD ROMAN CIRCUS.
A Place Where Blood Stained Visions OF
the Past Greet the Minds Eye.

A Place Where Blood Stained Visions OF
the Past Greet the Minds Eye.
proceeded to the circus erected during the
reign of Diocletian, in or about the year 2o4.
The amphitheatre is some LOG feet in height,
1872 yards long, and 146 yards wide-its entire
circumference being 52S yards Forty-five
tiers of steps rise around the amphitheatre.
The circus is, on the whole, q peculiarly
Roman open air structure, its walls being
composed of enormous stones some six feet
long and three broad, while the flights of
galleries, leaning one against the other, con-
tribute most to the strength and durability of
the edifice Viewed from an eminence, the
circus looks like an extinct volcano, and
generally reminds one of the Colosseum of
Rome What blood stained visions of the
past obtrude themselves on the minds eye,
while one gazes on these still stout and sturdy
ruins of semi barbarious age! What cries OF
agony must not these old walls have heard,
and what wild acclamations OF triumph must
not have thrilled the echoes of these gigantic
round vaults and galleries at times when TO-
900 spectators met to see Christians or gladla~
tors "butchered to make Roman holiday"
Hither were brought ia chains tall stalwart
rustics from the forests of Germany to wrestle
with famished tigers in the arena; pale faced,
white robed virgins, whose only crime was
that they were believers in the doctrines of
CE4ist, and who paid the penalty of their be-
lief, torn asunder by the fangs of angry lions;
subject princes from the banks of the Danube
and athletes from the banks of the Arno;
slaves from the palaces of the rich, and serfs
from the novels of the poor, whose blood, as
it flowed, and whose agonizing cries as they
rang through the anpitheatre, tickled the
palates of thousands of pitiless men and
women! Here sat the lordly patrlcan, sur
rounded by lackeys, in his well cushioned box,
gloating over the CORY flesh and bones OF the
victim. By his side Tolls his beautiful dame,
ablaze with jewels and reveling in the luxury
of purple and fine linen, while her eyes
sparkle with unwonted brilliancy, and her
sensuous lips CULVER in the throes OF delight
as she chances downward on the mangled re-
mains of forms once as symmetrical and fault
less as her own.
These bouts of muscle took place quite fire.
quently at Verona. Every election OF
duunlvir OR an edile was pretext for one OF
these blood feasts; while candidates for pol1t-
ical honors often got them up at their own
expense in order to curry popular favor, or
rich folks left legacies which were devoted TO
the sustainment of such orgies. In those
days people went to the circus just as people
go nowadays to the cafe or theatre. The
seventy-two arcades around the amphitheatre
are at present let out to cheap jack vendors
and sundry other peddlers, few of whom, by
the bye, have any adequate idea Of the his
torical surroundings of the peculiar market
place where they dispose of their petty wares.
Antiquarians and scholars generally protest
against the presence of the peddlers in such a
spot, but times are hard and the corporation
has very few francs in its treasury, and as
the letting of the arcades brings in profit. the
city eides prefer to do as they are doing
rather than become bankrupts by protecting
the circus from vandalism and profanity
Verona Cor. San Francisco Chronicle.